“So good they named him twice,” was Manchester United fans' generous appraisal of the Cameroon international.

Djemba-Djemba, however, was rubbish, and demonstrated as much in his 20 Premier League appearances for the Red Devils. But that didn’t stop Villa from signing him in January 2005.

David O'Leary had presumably hoped that the Cameroonian could improve under his stewardship, but it wasn't to be: he struggled to break into the first team and, after just 11 appearances, was shipped off to Burnley on loan before his contract was terminated in the summer of 2007.

9. Benni McCarthy – Blackburn to West Ham, 2010 (Undisc.)

McCarthy had plundered 52 goals in 140 matches at Blackburn, having previously been prolific as a Champions League winner with Porto – so West Ham probably thought they were getting a capable striker in February 2010.

But the Hammers decided to part ways with the South African just 14 months into a two-and-a-half-year contract, paying him £1.5 million just to terminate his contract. The reasons? A return of 13 games, zero goals and lots of time spent on the touchlines nursing injuries. A disgruntled McCarthy later declared that Karren Brady was “the devil with tits”.

BACK OF THE NET

Brazil have an illustrious history of successful attacking full-backs: see Cafu, Roberto Carlos, Dani Alves, Maicon and Marcelo as cases in point. Arsene Wenger may have thought Andre Santos could provide a similar level of thrust when he signed the left-sider from Fenerbahce in the summer of 2011.

He was wrong. Very wrong. Santos struggled mightily in the Premier League and made just 23 league appearances in 18 months, scoring twice (though one of those goals did come in a 5-3 thriller against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge). He came under heavy flak from Arsenal fans, not just for his dismal performances, but in also attempting to swap shirts with former Gunner Robin van Persie at half-time of a game against Manchester United in which Santos had played poorly.

Arsenal decided to cut their losses and shipped him out on loan to Brazilian side Gremio, before Santos signed for Flamengo after his contract expired at the end of his loan spell.

7. Paul Konchesky – Fulham to Liverpool, 2010 (£3m)

Overall, the summer of 2010 was a horrible transfer window for Roy Hodgson – and ultimately cost him his job at Anfield. His final capture was his former Fulham left-back Konchesky, who joined the likes of Christian Poulson, Danny Wilson and Milan Jovanovic at Anfield.

Instead of taking his career to the next level, however, Konchesky struggled. He made just 18 appearances in four months and was sent out on loan to Championship club Nottingham Forest after Kenny Dalglish arrived, never to play for the club again. Leicester signed him for around £1.5m in summer 2011, with whom he eventually returned to the Premier League.